Postcolonial Urbanism: Representation of Cities and Cultural Transformation in Modern English Literature

The paper explores the theme of representation of postcolonial cities in contemporary English literature, with special reference being made to the intricate relationship between historical haunting, urban transformation and cultural negotiation. It addresses the way in which colonial cities, with their strict hierarchies and spatial division, influenced the social relations and identity formation, as well as ordinary experiences, and gave the opportunity to resist, adapt, and be creative in culture. By contrast, postcolonial urbanisms are dynamic, heterogeneous spaces of cross-border association between memory, modernity, migration, and diaspora, which result in urbanized identities of hybrid identities and multicultural space. These cities are described in terms of literary works as living palimpsests and they represent the conflicts between oppression and agency, tradition and progress, the local history and global forces. Through this analysis of the material, social and symbolic aspects of urban space, this study will bring out the role literature plays in recording, critiquing and reinventing the life of the urban spaces with reference to the role of the postcolonial cities as active agents of cultural change, identity negotiation and social struggle. This study highlights that the concept of the city in postcolonial literature has been a source of important insights into the overall work of decolonization, cultural hybridity and the ongoing transformation of urban communities.